ICAN-online : ICAN

ICAN-online : ICAN

The International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) email list is an online support group for anyone wishing to discuss birth and cesarean issues. Topics of discussion frequently include how to avoid an unnecessary cesarean, preparing for VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), healing and grieving from a difficult or traumatic previous birth, how to find a caregiver who is supportive of vaginal birth and VBAC, informed consent, childbirth education, the role of doulas and midwives, birth stories, etc. The list is made up primarily of mothers, in addition to some doulas, midwives, childbirth educators, and occasionally fathers. You can choose to receive all messages posted to the group as individual emails, or grouped together in digests. When you join the list, please offer an introduction to the group, perhaps through telling your birth stories or explaining your interest in ICAN. We look forward to chatting with you!

Breastfeeding in the Bible

breastfeeding.pdf (application/pdf Object)

Birth Control & Family Planning in Christian Families: Genesis 1:28

Birth Control & Family Planning in Christian Families: Genesis 1:28

Natural Christian Parenting

Natural Christian Parenting

Mothering Celebrates La Leche League International's 50th Anniversary (new info daily!)

Mothering Celebrates La Leche League International's 50th Anniversary (new info daily!)

Things that make you go "hmmm..."

The Sentinel Online : State: "The board's proposal would define 'midwife' as someone licensed to practice in collaboration with a doctor licensed by the medical board."

Thank you medical god.

BABY International Film Festival - Redondo Beach

BABY International Film Festival - Redondo Beach

Another very sad hospital birth -wedding picture included

Mother to be left unattended dies in hospital after c-section- leaves motherless child| News | This is London: "Medical staff were warned about her condition and a family friend even told a midwife to keep an eye on her in the bath.

But the estate agent was left unattended for 45 minutes and was discovered only when the friend returned from picking up her belongings, an inquest in Nottingham heard.

Coroner Dr Nigel Chapman said he was able only to record an open verdict because of uncertainty over how Mrs Maddi died."

But when he came back an hour later Mrs Maddi was still in the bathroom with the door locked.

She did not respond to knocking so midwives opened the door and found her submerged under water and not breathing.

Doctors resuscitated her and delivered her baby Jayden but Mrs Maddi later died.

Hospital officials have since admitted there were no official guidelines on whether pregnant women should be left to bathe on their own - but there was the assumption among the midwives on duty that Mrs Maddi would not be left alone during her bath.

The hearing was told Mrs Maddi had written to the hospital saying she was under stress because her mother had died and had warned them the fainting attacks were increasing.

Hospital management have promised to introduce guidelines about the supervision of patients to avoid a repeat of the tragedy.

Mr Maddi, 29, a warehouse worker, has instructed solicitors to take legal action against the hospital trust.

He said after the hearing: "I hope they keep to their word and make the changes, that is all I want now. My son will never know his mother.

"My son might not even have been alive if Paul hadn't come back when he did. I just hope that something-good will come out of losing my wife."

Mr Guthrie added: "The word observation means to watch but obviously Lorraine wasn't watched.

***
In other words, no one was "with" this mother in labour.

Consider Home Birth for that Breech Baby!

Breech Of Trust_Hands off the breech baby
by Lisa Bobrow

Mothercraft Consulting LLC

The following are notes I took from Janelle's posts at a Virginia birth support group. Janelle is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and stays busy with Mothercraft Consulting LLC


"The only reason I attend birth at home is because it is medically safer." -- Mayer Eisenstein, MD

"Home birth is not noninterventional. they intervene to protect the mother from obstetricians, the baby from pediatricians, and to protect both from the hospital. I regard that as interventionist."

(Hmmmm. Maybe I'm a lot more interventionist than I thought . . . )

(speaking of a homebirth practice) "They don't endanger mothers and babies with dangerous drugs, tests and surgeries. Your chances of death, disability, mental retardation, epilepsy, convulsions and sudden infant death syndrome are far greater in the hospital than at home. IF OBSTETRICIANS ARE GIVING DRUGS TO WOMEN IN LABOR, DOING EPISIOTOMIES, AND HAVE A HIGH RATE OF CESAREAN SECTIONS, THEN THEY ARE NO GOOD" (emphasis mine)


I love it. And I love this book: "The Home Birth Advantage: A Time-honored Tradition for the New Millennium" by Mayer Eisenstein, MD

"The midwife considers the miracle of childbirth as normal, and leaves it alone unless there's trouble. The obstetrician normally sees childbirth as trouble: if he leaves it alone, it's a miracle"

The Home Birth Advantage


"You are a birth helper: you are assisting at someone else's birth. Do good without show or fuss … If you must take the lead, lead so that the mother is helped, yet still free and in charge. When the baby is born, the mother will rightly say, "We did it ourselves". - Dao De Jing, 500 B.C.

Prior Successful VBAC Linked to Low Risk for Complications Later

Prior Successful VBAC Linked to Low Risk for Complications Later: "February 8, 2008 — Women with previous successful attempts at vaginal birth after cesarean delivery (VBAC) are at low risk for maternal and neonatal complications during subsequent VBAC attempts, according to the results of a study reported in the February issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology."

VeriChip Corporation - Infant "Protection"

VeriChip Corporation - Infant Protection: "The number of total switching incidents is as high as 20,000 per year in the U.S.
- Journal of Healthcare Protection Management"

Instead of this statisic being the foundation of a pro-
"tagging" your infant argument to sell the people on how "good" RFID/National ID, Big Brother "so that we can protect you" etc. etc. is...parents should consider returning to the ancient and safe custom of birth at home.

Five Standards for Safe Childbearing - Awesome quote!

Five Standards for Safe Childbearing - Google Book Search

"It is a comment on our times that we, who want childbirth to again become an intimate family affair, filled with the security of one's home and the love and tenderness of one's family, are considered radicals." Doris Haire

Excerpts from the 5 Standards of Safe Childbirth

NAPSAC

by David Stewart, PhD:

...Every study published shows midwives to be safer than doctors. Every study. No exceptions. If your physician disagrees with this, challenge him or her to produce the data that supports otherwise. They won't be able to do it. Such data does not and never did exist. In a nutshell, that is the strength of the case for midwifery. It is unanimous.

...In March of 1996, the Kansas State Supreme Court rules that midwifery is a distinct profession. The high court stated that "even if the midwife does something that could be construed as medical practice, it is not medical practice. It is midwifery. An activity is not incident to the practice of medicine just because it is engaged in by the members of the medical profession."

Dr. Stewart says, "Any practitioner who attends birth with an attitude of respect for individuality, support of nature, promoting health, and the preservations of normality by little or no intervention is, by our definition, a "midwife" even though he or she may hold a degree in medical doctoring."

To get a copy of the new, fully updated 1997 "Five Standards for Safe Childbearing" by David Stewart, Ph.D send $16.95, plus $3.00 shipping to NAPSAC, Rt. 1, Box 646, Marble Hill, MO 63764-9725, USA. (make checks payable to NAPSAC International, in US funds) reprints of the Midwifery article are $4.95 each, plus $1.50 shipping, and the Home Birth Chapter is $3.95, plus $1.50 shipping. *I have no financial or any other interest in NAPSAC, except I like the work the Stewarts do!*

Ezra James Burgess

Ezra James Burgess

-More beautiful fruit of the labor of birth at home in Alabama!

N.J. Orders HIV Testing For Pregnant Women - washingtonpost.com

N.J. Orders HIV Testing For Pregnant Women - washingtonpost.com: "NEW YORK, Dec. 27 -- New Jersey this week launched one of the most ambitious efforts in the country to control mother-to-child transmission of HIV, making screening tests mandatory for all pregnant women in the state beginning next year.

A bill signed into law Wednesday by the Senate president, Richard J. Codey, in his capacity as acting governor, requires two tests for pregnant women, at the beginning of the pregnancy and again in the third trimester, unless the mother objects. If the mother objects, the objection will be noted and the newborn will then be tested for HIV, with the only exception being on religious grounds. Newborns will also be tested if the woman tests positive."

The Makers of Modern Schooling - John Taylor Gatto

The Makers of Modern Schooling - John Taylor Gatto

The makers of modern schooling weren't at all who we think.

55 Reasons for Having a Home Birth

The Birth Centre for homebirth, waterbirth and natural birth

1. Homebirths have been proven to be the safest way to give birth. 2. Homebirth is a cost effective way of having private professional care. 3. There is less chance of getting an infection in the home situation than in a hospital. 4. Homebirths have a 5% ceasaerean section rate as compared to a 50% ceasaerean section rate in hospitals. 5. Woman are more likely to give birth without tears and cuts at home. Some doctors cut women routinely in hospital. 6. Breast feeding is more successful in a home environment. 7. Breast milk normally comes in on day two compared to the average day three or four in hospital. 8. There is a decreased rate of vacuum extractions and forceps deliveries at home compared with the 20% rate in hospitals. 9. Fathers are not pressurised to attend the birth. In hospital they are expected to attend, and told what to do and where to stand. 10. Fathers can be totally involved and can help deliver the baby at a homebirth. 11. A homebirth is an art and a science. A hospital birth is a science. 12. Homebirth is a private, romantic affair. In hospital it is a public occasion. 13. At home women take responsibility and make choices for themselves. In hospital women have things done to them. 14. At home the woman can choose the most comfortable position for labour and birth. In hospital women are told how to give birth 99% of the time. 15. At home things can be arranged the way you want them with music, friends in attendance, candles and a beautiful atmosphere. In hospital everyone gives birth in labour ward 1 or 2 which look scary, cold and clinical. 16. At home you look at pleasant things like flowers, pictures and objects of beauty. In hospital you see the clock, the stirrups and medical equipment. 17. Routine intervention is unheard of at home, because each woman is an individual and needs different things at different times. In hospitals, routine procedures are done by doctors with a "standing order". 18. Private hospitals are expensive. 19. In government hospitals, space is insufficient and they are often overcrowded. 20. Homebirth midwives are trained and experienced. Training hospitals are training and experiencing. 21. At home births, qualified people attend to you constantly. In hospital one midwife may supervise 2 or 3 births simultaneously. 22. At home, a woman gives birth instinctively, listening to her body. In hospital, a woman gives birth listening to her doctor. 23. At homebirths, natural remedies are used but medication is available if needed. In hospital medication is given even if not needed. 24. Born at home, a baby is treated with the utmost respect and looked upon as a human being with feelings. It is not subjected to routine injections, suctioning and painful measures on the first day. There are no bright lights and rough handling. 25. Babies tend to lose less weight when born at home. 26. There is a decreased amount of postnatal depression after a homebirth. 27. A homebirth offers personalised care throughout the pregnancy, labour, birth and aftercare with people you have chosen and trust. You will not have the shock of a doctor, locum or midwife that you have never met before. 28. A homebirth is not only a setting but also a philosophy. A hospital birth is a setting. 29. There is less intervention at a homebirth such as routine shaving or clipping of hair, enema, internals, amniotomy, epesiotomy, intravenous therapy, epidural and continuous foetal monitoring. 30. Inductions are not done at home. Instead, natural remedies are used which have no side effects. 31. At a homebirth, women are encouraged to eat and drink frequently. In hospital, food is not allowed and an intravenous drip is given to maintain fluid levels. 32. If a hospital is required, outside emergencies receive more attention than do hospital emergencies. Midwives liase continuously with doctors throughout the labour. 33. Midwives who do homebirths are experienced and equipped to deal with emergencies. In hospital, the doctor still has to be called in if the midwife is inexperienced. 34. At a homebirth, there is no exhausting travel to hospital when in labour, and there is no exhausting changing from bed to bed as in hospital. 35. A woman who gives birth at home has more confidence and an increased psychological boost. 36. Water births are easily accessible in the home birth situation. 37. A homebirth involves the spiritual, emotional, social, physical, mental, romantic, medical, religious and natural aspects. In hospital the emphasis is on the physical and medical. 38. Babies experience less foetal distress in the homebirth situation because fewer drugs are used and women eat, drink and remain active. 39. At a homebirth, a professional midwife visits for 5 days after the the birth. Women are usually discharged after 3 days from hospital, and expected to be able to manage on their own. 40. Midwives specialise in natural birth, while doctors specialise in high risks and abnormal births. 41. Women at home often choose the supported squat as it opens the pelvis by 30% more than lying on your back. 42. At a homebirth, you are free to choose who you want to be present while in hospital you can only have one person. 43. At a homebirth, your children can be with you while at a hospital birth they cannot. 44. There is no chance that your baby will be swapped or stolen with a homebirth. In a hospital there is always that risk. 45. Homebirth babies don't have to cry to prove they're alive. Hospital babies are made to cry. 46. At a homebirth, various kinds of pain relief will be used before resorting to an epidural. In a private hospital birth, epidurals are encouraged if you are making unusual birth noises. 47. At a homebirth, sunshine and frequent feeding at the breast treats jaundice babies adequately. When phototherapy is needed, it can be administered at home. Jaundice occcurs frequently in hospital because of assisted deliveries and medication. The baby will be treated immediately under the phototherapy lights which can be traumatic for baby and mother. 48. The only time a homebirth is not safe, is when there is a high risk. This is what hospitals are for. 49. At a homebirth, the use of alternative therapies such as aromatherapy, homeopathy and acupuncture is acceptable. In hosptitals, the use of alternative therapies are often regarded with suspicion or scepticism. 50. At homebirths, there is a reduced amount of bleeding after birth because the cord is cut only after it stops pulsating and the placenta is born passively. In hospital, the cord is cut straight away and the placenta is artificially extracted, increasing the risk of haemorrhage. 51. Homebirth is a continuation within the family. A hospital birth separates families for up to three days. 52. Home affords the mother ample sleep and rest after birth. There are no visiting hours, nurses performing 4 hourly observations or other crying babies to keep her awake. 53. Husbands have plenty to do at a homebirth and in no way feel superfluous. Hospitals often make husbands feel like privileged bystanders. 54. A homebirth baby is born into a natural environment, the one in which he will be living. Hospital birth necessitates transport to the home environment. 55. At home, a woman may labour and give birth in the same place. In the hospital, she must be transferred to a different room to give birth.
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The Birth Centre • 6 Abercorn, 15 Sycamore Road, Glenwood, Durban 4001 • Tel/Fax 031-2055876 • Email mwbirth1@mweb.co.za All information is subject to copyrights (Midwife Tracy Roake © 2001)

U.S.'s low rank for newborns' survival - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

U.S.'s low rank for newborns' survival - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com: "Nation ranks near bottom among modern nations, better only than Latvia"

Are doctors the #1 cause of death in the U.S.?

DEATH BY The Practice of MEDICINE